The overall goal of this research is to develop a prototype database whose purpose is to serve as a common reference point for the study of the anatomy of the mouse cochlea. The database will be called: the Mouse Cochlea Database (MCD), and will consist of several databases that contain digital images and bibliographic information on the mouse cochlea. There are three specific aims of this NIH Exploratory/Developmental Grant. (1) To collect, organize, and analyze bibliographic information from the existing literature on the mouse cochlea and place this information into a web accessible database. (2) To select members of a Steering Committee/Editorial Board to oversee development the database. These individuals will standardize nomenclature and histological protocols, and peer review information that is entered into the MCD. (3) To collect, produce, and incorporate anatomical information into the database so that it is web accessible. The digital images will include: core images showing the anatomy of representative structures of the mouse cochlea using light microscopy and selected immunohistochemical experiments, a digital cytocochleogram of a surface preparation of the mouse organ of Corti, and a 3D reconstruction of the mouse cochlea from Magnetic Resonance Microscopy. Each image will be indexed and retrievable by text captions that include: keywords, histological protocol information, author information, and reference citations. Authors of the images will be cited and will retain ownership of the images. Furthermore, each image will be digitally marked for identification as part of the MCD. This research is a new focus for my laboratory, but one that is consistent with my previous interests and experience with cochlear anatomy, digital image analysis, and web-based informatics. Development of the MCD prototype seeks to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of a community-accessible database for research and education of the cochlea and hearing. The retrieval and organization of key information, and its integration from disparate resources will allow investigators to rapidly and efficiently access information on the anatomy of the mouse cochlea. It is anticipated that information retrieval from the MCD will evolve into information mining, thus revealing new content, such as trends and information holes, that would otherwise have been difficult to realize from separate data sources. For future development, anatomical and bibliographic information within the MCD can be hypertext linked to the rapid growth of genomic information on normal and mutant mouse strains that are relevant to hearing research.